round 17 Lieutenant Jg Logan - Things to think over

[+ Salkath]

((Conference Room 2, Deck 2 - USS Darwin-A))
 
::Watching the Senior Staff head out of the Conference room, Kurt rose slowly to his feet he needed to speak with several department heads to request some equipment from them just in case…::

Logan oO Any action on an enemy controlled site has so many ‘ifs’ and conditions that can cause things to turn against you so quickly there’s no way to think of them all let alone be equipped for them. We just have to try and find the most adaptable equipment that covers the majority of problems and then …….. work hard and hope Oo

::Moving round the table Kurt’s overwhelming impression of their First Officer was one of tiredness, their life was filled with the general running of the ship. Meeting after meeting, report after report everything that happened on board ship first went to them, the Captain only saw the reports after they had been signed off and any problems solved. Only if they were to large or were ‘above the paygrade’ did the Captain get involved, which for the Darwin meant that ever since the Numiri attack and the Captain went missing her First Officer, also now her Acting Captain, had to deal with both sides of the table::

Logan oO Send the reports to me now …. get that sorted and send it back to me…. Excellent you’ve fixed that now I’ll sign it off and send it to me so I can verify it Oo

::If the situation wasn’t so dire it would be worth laughing over it with a nice drink, and good company, but the situation was a major problem, they had no Captain …. Not yet but they would do again soon….. he hoped. Approaching Commander Traenor Kurt ran his hand through his hair::

Logan: Excuse me Sir, do you have a moment

Traenor: Yes, of course, Lieutenant. 

Logan: There’s a few things I want to run by you, some things that…… ::Staring out the windows that comprised the back wall of the Conference room, which at the speed they were traveling didn’t show the darkness of space and pinpoint lights of stars  but the streaking lines of starlight as the Starship shot through space at faster than light speeds, then back to the Commander:: I don’t know if I’ve looked at this too long and am making things fit or their actual formed ideas that …… ::His sentence trailed of as Kurt couldn’t find the words to finish it::

Traenor: I'm all ears, Mr Logan. What's on your mind?

Logan: I’ve looked at all the information every day, trying ……. trying to fathom any facts that lead anywhere, anything to give an insight…..

Traenor: ::ruefully:: You and me both...

Logan: I don’t know if there facts or suppositions or outright fantasy ….

Traenor: ::with a smile, leaning back:: Spit it out, Kurt. ::kindly:: I do want to hear what you think.

::Seeing The Commander nod, sit back down in the chair and lean back cupping his hands together in his lap Kurt had no choice but to finish what he had just started, the Commanders posture immediately brought back their last meeting when he failed to convince the First Officer of the saboteur, as they now knew, on the Outpost. Who was right or wrong was of no consequence Kurt’s arguments, and most importantly proof, were too weak to convince anyone else to support his hunch’s::

Logan oO Am I as far out as last time, or so far out I’ve dropped of the universe Oo
 
Logan:: Nodding Kurt took a deep breath and a sip of the iced water before calling up the sensor information gathered from Unity Outpost::  Firstly the ship…. Unknown configuration … but why ?, answer no one’s seen it before. But then why here ? in the delta quadrant any ship is unknown …. So the answer is .. unknown to us. But then why do we matter ?  so we don’t know who to blame, keep everyone guessing, buys time, and delays the federations response.. until it’s too late

Traenor: ::following Logan's logic:: I concur. Using a mystery ship is a good way to keep us off our game.

Logan: The ship is designed as a covert warship all its sensor reflections, warp baffles, QSD and armour what else could it be …. At first I thought Raikenoff. But it doesn’t match him after the Captains beaten him twice, he’d want to show how he’s better both his ship and him as captain, something like this no not his style. There’s the J’naii to consider as the ships path is heading that way, most people put bits of tech on different ships before putting them on one vessel, the federation has done is with the warp baffles and armour etc… the J’naii there’s no vessel in the computer that matches anything about this ship … so did they build it or … there’s another possibility, according to Headquarters the only people building completely different shaped vessels each time is the Consortium. And then the QSD, few races have developed one independently… but then one of ours was stolen by Raikenhoff who worked for the Consortium before going rouge according to them, now a ‘new’ ship has a QSD who’s biggest jump so far is smaller than our maximum, which would match with the belief that they have copied the drive from the one they stole, before we got it back. It would be interesting to compare the warp signature to Raikenhoff vessel ….

Traenor: To be honest, my thoughts had veered towards Raikenoff initially too. But this just isn't his style. Nor that of the Consortium. If Renos was a threat to either of them, which ne really hasn't personally been, then they would have been either way more overt or way more subtle. This just all seems so... random.

Logan oOSupposedly Raikenhoff has stolen his ship and the consortium are chasing him to get it back, kidnapped the captain as bait to bring him to them …. That’s rubbish Logan and you know it, if his ship is stolen there’s no way he would just walk up to get Renos from them, his tactics may not be brilliant but he’s not that crazy…. Hatred and a madness towards us possibly but not stupid Oo

::So far the Commander hadn’t waved off his thoughts or theories, even if he thought he was rambling, everyone was feeling the strain. He’d tried to keep his sleep pattern but he was lacking as well, he wasn’t an Engineer so he had no idea what they must be feeling including Commander Varaan who may be a Vulcan but even they aren’t unbreakable. Some of his team had been seconded to maintenance or indeed had become more Engineer than Security for these past weeks, but eating well even if most times it was a workout in and of itself just to keep eating had kept Kurt going, with a nod from the Commander Kurt continued::

Logan: When the ship was docked at the outpost they made no use of the internal comm system …. At all, neither did anyone exit or have any supplies brought on board, why not ?. they were fully supplied for the trip they were going to make, that’s nothing unusual.. but why did no crew leave, did they not want anyone to see the crew, but why we wouldn’t recognise any of them so why the secrecy… and why no comm traffic, you arrive at an outpost land but say nothing else … to anyone ….. their own communication system or prearranged meeting…. But again why the secrecy ?

Traenor: Outpost Ops scoured the sensor and comm logs in the days leading up to Renos's departure. If they communicated with somebody on the outpost prior to or during their docking, then it wasn't through normal means. So that's a scratch as well.

Logan: Then there’s this ::Showing the sensor feed of the Captain, Ly, and an unknown entering the ship:: that unknown man arrived on the outpost the day before the ship did on a merchant transport. So why did they board an unknown ship.. why would you ?. threats ? the Captain can handle himself enough that threats wouldn’t work, like wise is physical assault… no one’s limping or looks like there carrying any injury. In fear ? …. If the Captain was in fear why didn’t he contact anyone else ..you ?, security ?.... outpost ops …. No you enter somewhere unknown because your told your safe… but told by who ?.... the unknown man well he had to be known to either Renos or Ly otherwise why would you believe its safe, as well why pick Ly who’s combat scores are average on testing….. but is good enough for the captain to help teach a Kaigut class that the captain is proud of …….

::It was a leap Kurt knew but the facts of the group didn’t fit well with each other::

Traenor: I'm no expert, but nothing about that party looks like they didn't want to be there.

Logan: So two J’naii deviants ::Kurt caught the wince from the Commander as the word ‘Deviant’ was used, Kurt himself didn’t think of the Captain in such a way but the word and its meaning were relevant to the matter being discussed:: and a Rodulan, who by the by doesn’t walk right or tilt his head right and his posture is …. Just … off oO How do you say that everything every one has written or commented on the Rodulans of their Physiology and Psychology doesn’t match this one, an odd one out? Oo They enter an unknown ship, that ship leaves after the captain files a flight plan, thus giving them a head start. But it’s destination has been fairly easy to work out the J’naii homeworld, two deviants returning home ?.... not going to be a good welcome, even with the captains knowledge and codes. They’ve decided to become normal J’naii ?, while the captain had very nice dresses made up and treatment for longer hair. If they had headed straight there they would already be there with us trailing far behind, so why take your time ?

Traenor: No, it just wouldn't happen that way. Renos would never run like this of nir own volition. Ne and Iy must have been taken. But why do you think they are taking their time?

Logan: You take time for two reasons… you’re doing something that needs to be completed before you arrive somewhere… or you want to finish something to prove you can do it before you arrive somewhere

Traenor: I think it's their QSD device, actually. It seems... inferior. Our scans show that their recharge time is taking longer and longer between jumps, and they likely can't travel as far per jump as we can. The time they are taking might just be coincidental.

Logan:: Shaking his head at the Commanders answer:: No … trying to hide from us ? … no there’s better ways of doing it than what they’re doing, much better, an Engineering Ensign could give you a better plan than there employing, and as for a Security Officer….:: Looking directly at the Commander:: You’d never find me …. ::Turning back to a display of the course they had been taking with time and dates of the Darwin’s arrivals and the approximate time of the unknown vessels leaving of identified points:: Then how are they staying steps ahead of us, jumping out just before we get there … what do they know ?… how do they know it ?…who’s telling them ??

Traenor: ::sighing:: That is the question that keeps hounding us, yes.

Logan::Kurt was slightly hesitant to carry on knowing what his statements would mean both to the memory of the Captain and to the outcome of any confrontation::  That gives two worse case scenarios the first is the Captain and or Ly are in command positions on that ship which means that they will have the captain command codes, our prefix codes, and this ships systems …. Including Comms, Personally fairly unlikely, the Captain has much better tactics than what’s being displayed so far. Or the Captain and or Ly are prisoners on that ship which leads to a chain of thought regarding their status and their home world

Traenor: ::chin set resolutely:: Never. Even under fear of death, Renos would never surrender nir information. 

Logan: I have to believe my captain is innocent which means working on the second option

Traenor: Yes, I agree. That is - unfortunately our most likely scenario right now.

Logan: To counter any Command or prefix codes we could lock the computer from any outside input. oO This is the question that I don’t want to bring up in fact make me naked in front of the Borg….Oo ::Pinching the bridge of his nose Kurt turned to Darwins Command Officer:: Do we know the Captain is aboard that ship ?

Traenor: Command codes were transferred to me once Renos was officially recognized as missing. Besides, ne would never divulge that information. Iy never had any clearances that would jeopardize us in this manner. And as for your question... ::diverted eyes:: ...no, we don't know.

Logan::The fear of being wrong flickered through the eyes of the Commander:: oO We could have wasted weeks on a fool’s errand finding nothing at the end of it…… No Logan there’s never nothing even if he’s not there they will know something… and they will tell everything they know Oo Therefore I would suggest as soon as we’ve caught them we try and ping the Captains Comm badge, they might have been slack enough and not completely dismantled it or modulated their shields to block any transmissions, those modulations we’ll be able to detect.

Traenor: Okay, agreed. I'll leave it up to you to try and make that happen when we catch up to them.

Logan: In addition I would suggest hitting their shields in such a way to alert the Captain, if he is held prisoner then he’ll be deep inside, this way will vibrate the ship in such a way to let nir know were here.
 
Traenor: Formulate a plan and send it on to me, I'll look it over.

Logan: Security is ready for both boarding their ship, there’s still a couple of things to finalise with Engineering and Sickbay but there all set, were also ready to be boarded we’re setting the ship up as it was against the Borg

Traenor: I suppose it's best to be cautious, for sure.

Logan oO Be delicate here Logan Oo We also need to make them second guess even slightly, so ….. if you’ll pardon me sir, wear some make up so you don’t look as tired, that’s what they’ll expect, also vary the lighting each time you talk to them even to the point of send a low frequency hum along with the transmission, to keep them thinking.

Traenor: Well, ::smirking:: I don't know about putting on facepaint, but I understand what you're saying about the lighting. We might just get them to underestimate us if they think we're not 100 percent.

Logan oO Phew that was taken well Oo Use the lighting on the ship as well only have one area lit have the rest dark, again anything to make them think even for a second

::The Commander just sat there in silence staring between the display on the wall mounted screen and the stars streaking by the Darwin ::

Logan oO I’ve done it again haven’t I, I’ve lost him…. Oo ::He could feel his heart start to sink, the Commander would want to try anything to find and rescue the Captain but had he just buried any of the chances he found under nonsence and waffle ….. again Oo

Traenor: response
 
::Yes….. this time Kurt had managed to convey his thoughts to someone else, it would be hard but they had a good chance::

Traenor: Yes, that's all good. We'll pass along those suggestion to Ops, they can make it happen.

::Taking a stride closer to the Commander Kurt could see the weight of their mission on his shoulders, the chair he was sat in looked to be the only thing keeping him upright, there was something more between Commander Traenor and Captain Renos than their positions on the Darwin, while not common knowledge it could be spotted when they were around each other, Kurt hoped that it wasn’t going to be lost at the end of this or that it would lead the Commander to act to hastily when the confrontation arose. Commander Stennes was acutely missed at this point as was Rune Jolara, the only other Counselor Kurt had met who he was comfortable around, he himself was no Counsellor by any definition of the word, in Security Counselling really just means shouting louder::

Logan:: Gazing out of the window, rubbing his needing to be shaved stubble:: We will get the Captain back
 
Traenor: ::hoping his tone didn't betray his despondency:: Yes, we will. oO But will it be the same Renos that left, or some psychotectically lobotomized facsimile? Oo

Logan: Did you know the Marine Corp has almost as many strikes against it as it has commendations.
 
Traenor: response
 
Logan: Before I wore this uniform I trained and passed out as a Marine, and were taught why, if you injure a marine the rest will always hunt you no matter what. Sergeant Hopkins led a unit against an occupied colony, they recaptured the colony but lost men doing it, it took three years but they tracked down every last 'pirate' that had escaped. In doing so Star Fleet stripped him of his commission...... 30 fellow Marine’s handed there's back in protest. The look they had on that day is a look I will never forget, it's a look that would crumble the pillars of hell .... and I saw it mirrored around this table. And although the Darwin's not a battleship ..... She's a hell of a lot tougher ...... so is her Captain. 

Traenor: ::realizing the pep talk for what it was:: Aye, I'll drink to that.

Logan: I once told a friend the one thing the Marines have that they never break ..... They don't run ....  When faced with an enemy, a Marine stands .... always :: a smile tugged at his lips. Looking back out into the space outside the conference rooms windows:: But faced with that same enemy, a friend ::His smile faded as his gaze hardened, turning back to Commander Traenor:: rips it's head off  ::nodding and heading for the door:: Commander when I said I saw the same look around the table, I meant not withstanding the pale faces and the tiredness and the bags under the eyes and the uniforms.. and the people being different, but other than that exactly the same

::Nodding to the Commander, Kurt headed for the doors and the meetings and drills that would occupy the next day of his time:

Logan: Commander when I said I saw the same look around the table, I meant not withstanding the pale faces and the tiredness and the bags under the eyes and the uniforms.. and the people being different, but other than that exactly the same  ::smiling Kurt gave the Commander a wink before disappearing around the corner and of to his next stop to get the pieces ready for the rescue of their Captain::

Paul
Lieutenant Jg Kurt Logan - Assistant Security Chief
USSDarwin, NCC - 99312 - A
E239203KLOHY